4.3.a Honduras Migration

Immigration

• 6,353 - El Salvador
• 5,574 - Nicaragua
• 4,889 - USA
• 21,247 - Total

Emigration

• 550,694 - USA
• 36,271 - Spain
• 12,717 - Nicaragua
• 623,876 - Total

Net loss = 602,000

Migration policies are controlled by other countries' policies

• Hondurans could easily migrate to the US after Hurricane Mitch in 1999 during a scheme called 'Temporary Protected Status' (TPS)
• This allowed 57,000 Hondurans into the US
• Trump announced in 2018 that he would be bringing an end to the TPS and Hondurans would have until 2020 to return to Honduras or gain permission to stay in the US which would be extremely difficult to obtain
• Mexico Humanitarian Visas were announced in 2019 where Mexico is giving visas to members of the migrant caravan trying to reach the US. Women and children are prioritised and as a part of the visa they have free transportation back to the origin country

• The US gave Honduras $180 million of aid
  • 11% - Military
  • 89% - economic
    • 104 million for governance
    • 23 million for agriculture
    • 18 million for education
    • 6.9 million for humanitarian relief
• Honduras relies on emigrants to send back remittances

Opportunities

• Better QOL for emigrants
• Remittances from migrants helps the economy in Honduras
  • $2.9 billion per year
  • 16.5% of GDP

Challenges

• Brain drain
• Ageing population
• Less tax paid
• Lost workforce
• Fewer working in agriculture